Homer is known as the ancient Greek writer behind the Iliad and the Odyssey, two of the most iconic poems of all time. Through these epic poems, he explores key events in the Trojan War and takes us on Odysseus’s long journey to return home from the war, battling sea monsters, temptresses, beasts, and more along the way.
Students can follow Odysseus’s ten-year journey with perils at sea and vengeful deities as told through art. TheCollector presents the story of Odysseus’s journey in 16 artworks: (1) “Homer’s Odyssey Begins: Fighting the Cicones”; (2) “Into the Land of the Lotus-Eaters”; (3) “Polyphemus and the Island of the Cyclopes”; (4) “Odysseus Escapes Polyphemus’s Wrath”; (5) “The Bag of Aeolus”; (6) “Circe’s Island”; (7) “Odysseus Finds Tiresias in the Underworld”; (8) “The Sirens”; (9) “Between Scylla and Charybdis”; (10) “Hyperion’s Cattle”; (11) “Imprisoned on the Island of Calypso”; (12) “Nausicaa and the Phaeacians”; (13) “Back to Ithaca”; (14) “Odysseus Meets His Dog”; (15) “Odysseus Faces the Suitors”; (16) “Homer’s Odyssey Ends: Odysseus and Penelope Reunited.”
The events depicted in each of these artworks are described in detail on TheCollector website. Captions provide additional information, such as who created the artwork and when it was created.